BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, DIM SUM, ICE CREAM + CHINESE LANTERNS

This past weekend was spent celebrating my neice's 4th birthday, swinging by Chinatown in Philadelphia for the Chinese Lantern Festival, and enjoying some ice cream in Old City. But first, here's a photo of our Fourth of July flag set up. No one in my neighborhood really decorated and I don't have a clue what I'm doing on the decorating front yet (we just moved into this house in the spring) so I kept it super simple: American flags. We hung a house flag on our house pole (I don't have any other flags right now) and then lined our landscaped beds with mini flags. 

Ignore the garden hose. I'm struggling with my black thumb on those two potted plants on the stoop. It's killing me that I can't keep ANY plants alive. Literally none.

Saturday morning started with a quick one mile run around the neighborhood. I was faster than my usual 14 minutes (wahoo!) but it is still a lot slower than I had hoped for. I seem to remember running a 10 minute mile without a problem so I'd like to get back to that place again. I'm working on it. 

I also completed the Tone It Up workout of the day. I just got their app and I'm low key obsessed with it. They make it fun even when I'm just bopping around in my family room by myself. Plus that final congratulations screen makes me feel very accomplished. #ididit!

After that I showered and get ready to head to my niece's birthday party. They don't live nearby and it's rare we see them so we try not to miss her birthday every year. She turned four this year and we were told she is super into games right now. We decided to get her a few board games from our childhood favorites. Yes, Candyland had to be included but we also got Let's Go Fishing and Don't Break the Ice. Do you remember those games? It was a walk down memory lane as we choose and I never realized how many games are out there. I saw a few adult games I want to play. My sister-in-law also had another daughter in April who we had not yet met so we also brought a little gift for the baby. You can't go wrong with a "little sister" onesie and a gift card, am I right? Unfortunately I don't have an "after" photo of the presents where they're all pretty and wrapped...weird.

After the birthday party we headed straight into the city for an early dim sum dinner, dessert, and a night of Chinese lanterns. We had dinner in Chinatown at Dim Sum Garden which has the most delicious and apparently most authentic Shanghai style dim sum around. If you're in Philadelphia I highly recommend a lunch stop there. I love dim sum for the same reason I love tapas--you can eat a lot of little things and stop when you're full. We usually order a lot for the table and share it. Last year my brother was with us and we ordered way too much so I'd like to think we cut back a little this year.

We ordered the pork soup dumplings (amazing!), chicken on a stick (soooo delectable), and pan-friend beef potato cakes. Husband also got fresh pork moon cakes. This is legitimately one of my favorite meals. It's that good. Plus I don't have it very often since I'm not in Philadelphia very often and I don't know how to make it myself. 

After dinner we headed to another place I don't get to very often: The Franklin Fountain. It's an old-timey dessert shop in Old City (the historic area of Philadelphia) that serves up some of the finest sundaes. Despite being full of yummy dim sum I still ordered the classic Hot Fudge Sundae. I don't know what it is about their hot fudge that makes it so delicious but I just couldn't help myself. And they serve it in the cutest little to-go boxes ever. Don't let this photo fool you the portion was extremely oversized and I didn't finish it all. Of course I ate all the fudge, whipped cream, and cherry though!

After dessert we walked to the Chinese Lantern Festival. The festival comes to the city every year and this is the second year we decided to go. It has a mix of lanterns, vendors, and performers. This year they had plate spinning, table juggling, and Chinese mark changing (google it--it's crazy!). The festival is pretty in the daylight but really comes to life once it gets dark.

And these are a few of my favorites from this year:

They're just so vivid and pretty! I really like when we head into the city for a date night. We don't do it too often but it's always fun when we do! 

Have you ever been to a Chinese Lantern Festival? 

Do you do little outings like this?